Case Study #1 ? W.L. Gore and Associates
Introduction
W.L. Gore and Associates is a company started in 1958 by Bill and Vieve Gore. Bill Gore was a prior employee of Du Pont who saw innovative ways to work with a substance known as PTFE (Teflon). When Du Pont was not interested in exploring his ideas, he started his own business.
W.L. Gore and Associates has diverse, high-tech product lines that range from electronic products, to vascular grafts, to apparel, and also to dental floss. The range of products shown by the company can be credited in part to an unconventional management style, which they term "lattice" structure, under which the company is organized. In this structure, there is no hierarchy and little organized direction, so employees are free to explore their own projects and create their own goals.
This case study will first perform a SWOT analysis of the W.L. Gore company, then identify how certain key issues in marketing are handled within the organization. Concepts explored will include strategic marketing management, marketing ecocyles, and marketing segmentation. Finally, some conclusions and recommendations will be made regarding the information gleaned from the analysis.
SWOT Analysis
Strengths
The first and most apparent strength of the W.L. Gore company is its diversity of products. The company is able to market to a variety of industries on a global level, including electronics, medical industry, IT, aeronautics, and telecommunications. This diversity affords the company some protection financially should there be any negativity in a given market segment.
Another important strength of the company is its strong growth and financ ...